Chapter 10 Image Problem
A.N. – This is the chapter which has one small little change. It will still follow the same path and route, but it will change events.
Josh Xana – There is a better example I can think of in season two that completely makes you question Xana's motives in this season. I probably gonna end up pointing that out also.
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko, the story idea, or the plot. I am just a fan of the show, the plot is owned by the creators, and the idea was submitted by LittleRedRebel.
In the ice sector, Nadia and Aelita run along a path. "Thirty degrees north," Jeremy tells the girls. "You should be able to see it now."
"Yeah, we can, but it looks unactivated," Nadia comments as they reach the tower. "Not to mention quiet."
"Well, be careful. You never know."
Nadia mentions to the tower. Aelita walks up and enters it. Aelita step p to the platform and floats to the top.
"Yoohoo!" Aelita appears on the supercomputer screen. "Hi Jeremy. I don't see anything out of the ordinary in the tower. Are you sure it's the right one?"
"That was what the scan picked up, at least, for a few seconds," he explains. Outside, Nadia fells weird, like a sense of being watched. "And you said you felt pulsations a while ago, didn't you?"
"I did. Well, let's say yes and no. I'm not sure I did anymore. I thought I did."
"Okay, then. I'll go and-"
Nadia's screams can be heard outside the tower.
"Sounds like Nadia" Aelita stands up.
"What's going on? Can you hear me, Nadia? Answer me. Nadia!"
"Jeremy, Nadia's disappeared!" Aelita states.
"What? Come on, she couldn't have just vanished."
A scanner opens and it shows that she's devirtualized. "Aelita, hold on. I'll get back to you."
"Jeremy?"
Jeremy walks to the elevator, pressing the button to go down to the scanner room. He sees Nadia laying down in a scanner. "Hey Nadia. Nadia?"
She looks to be unconscious.
Odd and Ulrich are at the vending machines. Odd's hot chocolate comes out and he tastes it, spilling it out in disgust. "Hey, what's wrong with the hot chocolate today? It tastes like dirty sweat socks and an old pair of sneakers."
"Odd the gourmet!" Ulrich rubs his head.
"Yoohoo! Hey Ulrich! Yoohoo! Yoohoo!" They turn to see Sissi running up to them.
"Well, what do you know? Your fan club" Odd shakes his head, throwing out his hot chocolate. Sissi flips her hair.
"I don't believe it. Your darling Yumi's deserted you for once?" She smiles at the thought of having a chance with Ulrich now.
"Get real Sissi, not happening" Yumi comments, showing up.
"The only one deserted here Sissi is your brain!" Odd jokes and Ulrich and Yumi snicker. Sissi glares at him.
Ulrich receives a call. "Hello? Oh, it's you Jeremy."
"I'd recommend the hot chocolate. Take my word for it" Odd suggests as Sissi is about to select something.
"What?"
At the infirmary, the boys help carry Nadia to the bed. "Okay, easy does it. That's it" Jeremy says as they place Nadia on the bed gently.
"Oh, well then, what happened to her?" The nurse points to Nadia.
"Um…well, she started felling sick during recess" Jeremy states.
"It's cuz she's been studying real hard. Our teachers give us way too much homework" Odd adds.
"Alright, I'll take care of her. Now back to class, all of you." They stand there, not wanting to leave Nadia by herself. She narrows her eyes. "You heard what I said, now go. Go on." They leave reluctantly, Jeremy closing the door behind her. The nurse checks over Nadia and she wakes up. "Well, feeling better? Hmm?" Nadia grabs her arm back, sitting up. "Hey, no no no. Come on, lie down now, you hear? Please, you need to rest."
The nurse reaches an arm out to her and Nadia grabs it. The nurse gasps.
The four are sitting outside the cafeteria. "Are you sure she wasn't hit by a laser? Maybe there was a megatank hiding somewhere" Ulrich suggests.
"No, I would've seen it on the screen," Jeremy explains. "She still had all her life points when she was devirtualized."
"Well, in any case, something abnormal happened" Ulrich scratches his head.
"Yeah, that's for sure. The proof is she passed out in the scanner. Only the return trip's pretty easy" Jeremy said.
"Huh, that's what you think. You oughta try it one of these days. You'll love it" Odd argues. Ulrich has a conflicted look before he looks around the corner, gasping. He sees Nadia just standing there a few feet away from him.
"Huh? Nadia!" She turns around to them, blinking.
"Guess you're feeling better huh?" Odd asks.
"You had us scared."
"Tell us what happened?" Jeremy urges.
She doesn't answer, turning to leave, but Ulrich stops her. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine" Nadia replies.
"Really?"
"It's just been a tiring time with school and Lyoko" she holds her temple.
"Nadia, tell us what happened on Lyoko" Jeremy crosses his arms.
"I don't know. Maybe we should go and investigate" Nadia suggests.
"In your condition? That's a pretty crazy idea" Ulrich says.
"Hey listen. You know, we've got more important things to do. Like eating for example" Odd smiles and laughs. Nadia just walks past him. "Hey…" Odd follows her, shrugging in confusion to the others.
"What about Aelita? Is she safe?" Ulrich wonders.
"I hope so. I told her to stay in the tower" Jeremy answers.
Aelita sits down, looking at the interface and she spots something wrong. She slides the screen away, standing up. "I've got to go and check it out." Not far away, an orange sphere is floating on top of a glacier.
In the cafeteria, Nadia isn't eating. Odd eats his meatball as Jeremy turns to Nadia. "And you really can't remember what happened?"
"No, everything is a blank" she tells him.
"Do you think it could've come from the scanners? A bug or something like that?" Ulrich wonders.
"Unless Xana's trying out a new way of attacking" Odd points out.
"I haven't the slightest idea. I'm wondering if all these transfers are becoming a health problem" Jeremy voices in slight concern.
"Hey!" Odd says as Sissi approaches. "Do I smell fish or just cheap perfume?"
"You're such a riot. Oh Ulrich. What do you say we get together after school huh?" Sissi gives a hopeful look.
"Get together with you? Very tempting, but, uh, not!" The four laugh but Nadia doesn't.
Sissi scoffs. "You're just showing off because Yumi's here, huh? Mademoiselle likes to keep the competition as far away as she can!"
"Trust me Sissi, it's not because of me Ulrich won't go out with you" Yumi responds.
"If that's true, then why doesn't Ulrich go out with her?" Nadia asks.
Odd drops his spoon as his eyes widen, both boys dropping their jaws at the same time. Even Yumi is surprised at this.
"Huh?" Odd says.
"Hey…you wouldn't be…trying to make fun of me, would you?" Sissi demands. Nadia looks up at her and then back down again. "No? huh, great. Thanks a lot Nadia. Ulrich, I'll be waiting for you in the park after school. Ciao!" She leaves, Herb giving a jealous look as he turns around.
"What are you trying to pull anyway, huh?" Ulrich asks Nadia.
"Yeah, defending Sissi. Next time, just stay silent!" Yumi tells her.
"Why are you concerned? Jealous? Apparently, you're too scared to ask Ulrich out, but Sissi has confidence. He should be dating her and not you" Nadia responds.
"Miss Hopper," Principal Delmas places a hand on Nadia's shoulder. "Come to my office right now."
Back on Lyoko, Aelita looks up at the sphere. "But that thing wasn't there before. It looks like a guardian." Aelita can't see what's in it because she is too far away. She runs up to get closer, only for a laser to be shot from above. She ducks, looking at the lasers. Two kankerlots are guarding the sphere.
"What's going on with Nadia? Is she having a bad day or something? I've never seen her like this" Ulrich says in confusion.
"Maybe she got dumped" Yumi says.
"No, I've known her longer and I never seen or heard her talk to another guy. Maybe she had a really serious shock" Jeremy theorizes.
"Ulrich!" They turn to see an angry Herb, followed by Nicolas. "What's the big idea of having a date with Sissi, huh?!"
Jeremy pushes Ulrich away slightly. "This isn't the time for that, you hear Herb. If you want an explanation, go and ask Sissi." Herb glares at them and Jeremy places a hand on Ulrich's shoulder. "Okay, I'll leave you to your love stories. I've got a super psychopathic computer to feed."
"Nadia, this is unspeakable!" Principal Delmas slams his fist on the desk. "Our poor nurse Yolonda is still very upset. How could you have done such a thing? I'm giving you two hours of detention in the library to teach a lesson." She doesn't move. "Well, go on!" He points to the door. She still doesn't move or speak. "There's something troubling you Nadia." She turns to him before looking away. He steps forward. "Care to tell me about it? Nadia, I'm here to help you, that's part of my job." She still says nothing. "Very well. Keep this up and I'll have to inform your mother about the way you're behaving."
"Not my mom" she turns to him. They stare at each other.
"That's enough now Miss Hopper." He turns to the phone, placing his hand on the receiver. She places her hand over his to stop him. "What?! But – get you hands off the phone right now!"
"Not my mom!" She yells.
"I won't warn you again. Nadia, if you keep this up, I'll suspend you."
"Try to!" She grabs the receiver, and the symbol of Xana flashes on her forehead. He gasps and she hits him in the head with the receiver. Fake Nadia drops it and leaves.
"Hello there Nadia" Jim greets, laughing, but she walks past him silently. Jim gives an offended look as he stares after her.
Aelita is telling Jeremy what happened with the guardian in his room. "As soon as I got close to the monsters, they started to shoot."
"You shouldn't have left the tower Aelita" Jeremy scolds.
"I know. You're not too mad at me, are you?"
"Mad? No. Besides, I think you made an important discovery. This could have something to do with what happened to Nadia."
"Should I go back there?"
"No, hold on. I'll send Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd as back-up."
"Jeremy…what happened to Nadia might happen to one of your friends or all of them. If they came to Lyoko now, it could be very dangerous for them."
"I guess you're right. Go on then but promise me you'll be careful." The door opens behind him. "Huh?"
"You know me" Aelita assures, and Jeremy turns around to see fake Nadia. "Oh, it's you. What did the principal want?"
"Jeremy, I think Xana has launched an attack. We have to go to the factory, quickly" she demands.
"Oh no, forget it. First of all, Aelita didn't tell me anything and she would know, and second, you need to rest." He turns around as fake Nadia walks up behind him.
"Jeremy, what if Xana is active? We can't take that chance."
"No, nobody's going back to Lyoko until I give the order," he says. "It's too dangerous. I've got some tests I have to run first." She turns his chair around so that he's facing her.
"Hey," she leans closer. "Think about it. People will be hurt if we don't go" she places her hand on his shoulder. She was also using a sweeter sounding voice.
"Uh, duh, Nadia. W-what are you trying to-"
"Shhh," she shushes him and takes off his glasses. "There."
He blushes. "I, uh, I'm not…sure it's a good idea. Y-You should go back to your room and rest." Jeremy had know Nadia for over a year and she never attempted this before. Also, with her being a close friend, he couldn't figure out why he was flustered.
"Come on. The quicker we go, the faster we save everyone. Just you and me" she leans in close to a blushing and sweating Jeremy.
"B-B-B-B-m-m-you should go back and take a shower! No, acold shower! Very cold! Very very very cold! It'll calm you down!" He stutters as she prepares to kiss him. Ulrich opens the door without knocking, followed by Odd.
"Jeremy, hurry up, we gotta get going…" They see the scene, gasping. Fake Nadia turns around, both of them with their mouths open. "Next time, if you want some alone time with Nadia, lock the door." Ulrich then leaves.
"Ulrich, its not like that! I swear!" Jeremy walks off after him.
"You know, I don't know what to think of you anymore. I think whatever happened on Lyoko messed your head up" Odd comments. Fake Nadia chuckles to herself.
Aelita peeks at the tower from her spot. "Okay, time to go." She runs and immediately one of the kankerlots fires at her, followed by the other one. She manages to dodge the lasers, running into a cave. She presses her back against the wall, looking to see a ramp. She slowly approaches it, looking up to see a hole, which leads to the guardian.
The boys are in science class, but for some reason, Nadia is missing.
"And we can also observe cases of part genesis among certain insects. This phenomenon is relatively common and comparable to a sort of natural cloning. That is to say, the animal gives birth to a replica of itself. An exact replica with no differences between them," Ms. Hertz explains as she turns around to write on the chalkboard. "Scientists have succeeded in employing this process with rabbits."
Jeremy turns around to Odd and Ulrich. They just avoid eye contact with him. "Alright, we'll continue with the subject tomorrow." The bell rings at 4:30 and they leave.
"Ulrich," Jeremy grabs his arm. "You have to listen."
Ulrich yanks his arm back. "Stop trying to explain Jeremy. You obviously like Nadia. Just tell Aelita before she finds out."
"Something's not right with Nadia, she's not in her normal state. I don't know what she's been through, but she's traumatized."
Ulrich thinks, turning around. "Okay. Let's go."
Aelita has climbed up the hole, now in front of the guardian. She climbs up and tiptoes, trying not to catch attention to herself from the kankerlots. She looks inside it. "Oh no!" This makes one of the kankerlots hear her, firing a laser. Aelita runs away from it.
"What do you think this phenomenon is?" Ulrich asks as they walk back to Jeremy's room.
"I wish I could tell you, but I have no idea. Aelita's checking it out. It could be Xana's doing." He puts his key in the lock. "Oh no, I forgot to lock the door." He opens it and they gasp when they see Jeremy's room trashed, including his computer. "All my equipment!"
"You think Sissi's behind all this?" Ulrich wonders.
"Why would she wanna do it?" Jeremy questions.
"Hey, maybe it's Herb. He sure was mad when we saw him today" Odd suggests.
"Wait, who was the last one to leave this room?" Jeremy turns to Ulrich.
"Oh no," Ulrich realizes that the fake Nadia was left alone, she didn't show up to class. "No, that's impossible. Not Nadia."
"You gotta admit. She's been acting weird lately" Odd adds.
"Okay, Nadia hasn't been herself lately, that's right. But still…the enemy's Xana. Jeremy's right. Xana has launched an attack. And I'm sure this…other stuff is to distract us while he's calmly and quietly getting rid of Aelita" Ulrich explains.
"Aelita, she's all alone on Lyoko!" Jeremy realizes. "And we can't get to her!"
Fake Nadia appears in the doorway. "So, are we going to the factory?" She asks.
Jeremy narrows his eyes at her. She looks at Ulrich, who just stares. She glances at Odd, who has his eyes narrowed. The air was tense.
"Yeah, let's go."
"I'll tell Yumi" Ulrich says, dialing her number.
The four go down to the scanner room, the air still tense in the elevator. Jeremy is starting up the procedure. They stand in front of the scanners.
"Go on, do your stuff Jeremy" Odd calls out.
"Are you ready? I'll do the guys first. Here we go. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd." The two step in. "Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Virtualization." The two girls step in. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Nadia. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Nadia." Fake Nadia stops the scanner from closing. She opens it and steps out. "Virtualization." The three are virtualized near the cave where Aelita is. Fake Nadia looks back at the scanners.
Ulrich looks around in confusion. "Where is Nadia?"
"What? She's not with you?" Jeremy asks.
"No, she wasn't transferred."
Aelita runs from the kankerlots and Odd hears the lasers.
"Over there!" Odd points and Aelita jumps in front of them. A laser is fired at Aelita, but Ulrich pulls out his sword and blocks it from hitting her. The laser hits the kankerlot.
"Laser arrow!" Odd fires an arrow and it destroys the kankerlot.
"Hurry, we've got to go and free Nadia" Aelita explains.
"Nadia? Nadia's not-" Ulrich starts.
"The real Nadia," Aelita tells him. "The one who's here on Lyoko." She points to the guardian. "The other one was created by Xana." The real Nadia can be seen inside the sphere, unconscious. "Jeremy, whatever you do, don't go anywhere near Nadia. Do you hear me Jeremy? Jeremy?"
Jeremy has gone to the scanner room to investigate the issue. But he'll soon be in a face-to-face session with Xana.
Fake Nadia starts pulling the cables from the scanners to disable them. The elevator doors open, Jeremy narrowing his eyes at the clone. She pulls the cables off. "Nadia! What are you doing?" She gasps, dropping the cables and holding her head. He walks up to her, bending down to the cables. Fake Nadia looks at her fist and Jeremy gasps before he's punched in the face.
"Now!" Ulrich shouts to Odd.
"Laser arrow!" Odd fires at one of the kankerlots, but misses. He backflips away from the lasers. Ulrich runs off from them. Fake Nadia laughs evilly as Jeremy is unconscious on the ground.
"Sorry Jeremy, but I can't have you stopping my mission! First the scanners, then your friends, and finally Aelita!" The Fake Nadia says.
Ulrich and Yumi stand in front of the sphere. The kankerlot turns to them and Ulrich uses his sword to deflect a laser. Yumi throws her fan, defeating it.
"It's a guardian," Aelita joins them. "A sort of digital jail adapted to the body imprisoned in it."
Ulrich hits it with his sword, but it doesn't work. "We can't destroy it with our weapons" Ulrich says.
"I can create a clone, a false image of Nadia. We can try to convince the guardian that he's mistaken" Aelita suggests.
"Okay, let's go."
Aelita sings as she bends to her knees. An illusion of Nadia appears. The guardian falls for it and it explodes. Odd turns around. "Huh. Oh wow. Piece of cake."
Fake Nadia walks past Jeremy, looking at the second scanner.
Nadia gets her vision back as Ulrich and Yumi look over her.
"Welcome back" Yumi says to her.
"What was that monster that caught me?" Nadia asks.
"A guardian. We'll explain later" Ulrich replies.
"Yeah, because right now, we got a tower to deactivate" Odd adds, jumping to them.
"Jeremy's not responding. I don't understand. I have the feeling that something's wrong" Aelita voices in worry.
"He's all alone with the other one. If she destroys the scanners, it's all over" Ulrich looks down.
"He's not only dealing with her, but he's also dealing with Xana. He could kill him" Yumi adds.
"The other? Xana? What's going on? Who is it?" Nadia asks.
"The other…you" Odd reveals.
Fake Nadia is pulling the cables from the second scanner.
"What if something has happened to Jeremy and what if we don't manage to deactivate the tower in time? This is serious. Listen, one of us has to go back to reality right away. We don't have much time!" Yumi tells them.
"Right, I'll go" Ulrich offers.
"No, I'll do it," Nadia tells him. "I'll deal with myself. Plus, I've got a score to settle with Xana now."
"Then you go. But first, you have to devirtualize yourself. The question is how?" Ulrich says.
"Really Ulrich? You're armed, aren't you?" Nadia asks rhetorically. Fake Nadia is pulling the cables of the last scanner, but the real Nadia appears from it before fake Nadia can disable it. "Pretty good imitation Xana. But it's nothing compared to the real deal."
They stare at each other intensely as they take fighting stances. Fake Nadia strikes first, knocking Nadia into the open scanner.
Odd crawls to the edge of the platform, looking down to see three kankerlots. "Uh oh. We've got company" Odd says.
"Odd, watch out. On your right!" Aelita warns. A kankerlot hits Odd in the chest. Ulrich rolls in front of him.
"How many life points do I have left?" He deflects a laser.
"I don't know, but it's gotta be less than ten by now" Odd guesses as he gets back on his feet.
"I just hope Nadia can handle Xana" Yumi murmurs.
Jeremy wakes up to see the fake Nadia trying to open the hatch. She pulls it open, and Nadia jumps into action. Fake Nadia uses the door as a shield, knocking Nadia to the ground.
"Oh, Nadia!" Jeremy calls out.
Odd is hit again, and he dodges the rest of the lasers. "I'm still here? Well, I guess I messed up on my calculations."
"You always were a washout in math" Ulrich points out.
"Right, but thanks to you, I can count to three."
"Still, we need to win in order to save Jeremy and Nadia" Yumi reminds them.
Nadia gasps as fake Nadia is about to advance on her. Jeremy pushes fake Nadia to the open hatch, and she screams as she falls. Jeremy looks down, gasping.
"Triplicate!" Ulrich makes two clones of himself, running to the kankerlots. They destroy one, but Ulrich and the other clone jump up. Ulrich destroys one while the clone destroys the other. "Fusion!" The clone fuses with him and he puts the sword away. "Aelita, you're up." Aelita runs to the tower and goes inside.
A hand appears from the hatch and Nadia gasps as her fake self suddenly comes out of the hatch, grabbing Jeremy by his shirt. "I'm gonna finish this now!" Fake Nadia exclaims.
Aelita walks to the middle of the pad.
Fake Nadia tries to pull him, the Nadia crawling over.
Aelita floats to the top. She walks up and presses her hand on the interface.
Aelita
Fake Nadia grabs Jeremy, Nadia almost there. She gasps when fake Nadia holds Jeremy over her head.
Code
Fake Nadia laughs, about to drop Jeremy down the hatch. "No! Jeremy!" Nadia screams as she sees Xana's plan.
Lyoko
The tower is deactivated. Jeremy falls down the hatch, screaming. Luckily, he set up the return in time before he confronted Xana. The return to the past activates and time is reversed.
They all sit in Jeremy's room. "That's fantastic, the fact that Xana was able to materialize another Nadia proves one thing. It proves that materialization is really possible" Aelita points out.
"That's crazy. Xana's helping us with our materialization research!" Yumi comments in disbelief as she and Ulrich sit on the bed. Odd sits on the floor, while Nadia leans against the desk.
"Back to work then Einstein" Odd adds.
"No sweat. I'll start programming again right now" Jeremy replies.
"But why bother? If I were you. I'd go and see Xana. He's got the answer, so ask him!"
"I wouldn't trust him. Look at the Nadia he sent us" Ulrich states.
"Oh yeah, she wasn't that different from the original."
"She sure was. She didn't fool me. I saw the difference. As soon as she started to flirt with me" Jeremy says.
"How do you know that?"
"You forget, I've known Nadia a year longer than you guys. If she was that attracted to me, why didn't she try it earlier."
"No offense Jeremy, but you're not really my type," Nadia replies. "But you'll always be my first friend."
The group eventually leaves, and Ulrich pulls Yumi aside. "Uh, Yumi, about earlier with the fake Nadia, do you think she was telling the truth? About us?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe we both need time. Eventually, maybe we'll find the status of us" Yumi responds.
They both smile, and only the future holds the future of these two.
A.N. – And thus ends this chapter. This was researched a while ago, and before I started it, I thought that Nadia was on Lyoko too much, so I decided to change it up and have her in the center for this chapter. I mean, she is the main theme for this story. As we enter season two, the events the center around Aelita will also impact Nadia as well. I can't say which ones to avoid spoilers, but there are ideas for a few certain chapters already. PM me with story ideas! Review with questions or comments! I will respond! As always, till next time! -lyokowarrior97